Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the other characters.
He was running. The sharp pains were shooting through his tired limbs and the branches and leaves of the dark forest tore at his face, his hands and his robe. He had to keep running. His ragged breathing and the rushing of the cold wind were the sounds filling his ears. His lungs were burning from lack of oxygen but there was no time to stop to breathe. He had to keep running. Suddenly his foot was caught by a tree root that he did not see, and his body's momentum was halted as he fell to the ground with a sickening thud. He tried to untangle himself, but he froze on the spot as soon as he saw the glimmering light of his pursuers' wands and torches. He scrambled on his now injured foot and hid himself inside the empty fallen log closest to the oak tree that prevented his escape in the first place. As the lights and sounds of the chase came closer, he prayed to Merlin that they would not look inside the log; that they would just go away. He held his breath and covered his hair to prevent them from discovering his hiding place.
"Dolohov, do you see anything?" one of the hooded figures illuminated the clearing with his torch.
"No, but we must keep looking. He could not have gone too far." Dolohov replied with urgency. "The Dark Lord will not accept failure."
"My nephew is not as intelligent as he thinks he is, we will find him. Without a wand, there is nothing he can do." Rodolphus Lestrange reassured the other Death Eater.
Dolohov proceeded to walk past the dark log. The sound of his footsteps was coming closer. Draco tried to make himself, curl up into the smallest clump possible.
"Dolohov, I think the best way to get our pretty bird to come out is to smoke him out." Rodolphus Lestrange lowered his torch to the ground as Dolohov turned around to look at him, a diabolical smile forming on his face.
"That is the best idea I have heard from you yet. Even if we don't capture him he will not survive the inferno." Dolohov laughed cruelly at their prey's predicament. "What are you waiting for, light the fire!" He yelled.
Rodolphus Lestrange scoffed at the command. He cried "INCENDIO" as the pile of dry leaves in the clearing started on fire, its tongues caressing the forest floor. At first they both stared into the fire, mesmerised. The red, white and orange flames danced across the ground to start devouring the nearby oak tree.
"Lestrange, the rest of the forest can't wait" said an irritated Dolohov "Let's go!" Both the Death Eaters moved away from the clearing as the echo of their cries of "INCENDIO" moved in two different directions.
Now our victim was left alone contemplating how to not burn alive. If he tried to run they would surely see him and kill him on the spot. If he stayed where he was he would die either from smoke inhalation or worse, by being engulfed by fire. They were the skilled and dreaded hunters and he was their ultimate goal, their prey. They would not stop until his body was cold and dead at their feet.
"NO!" he said to himself. He had to try; he had to try to run. There were only a few pursuers, maybe he could break through, without them noticing him. He got up from his hiding place and choked on the smoke surrounding the small clearing. If only he had a wand, he would be gone from here within seconds. "Think, Malfoy, think!" he mentally glowered the command to himself. The fire around him spread and he could feel the blistering heat, forcing his thoughts to the present. He ripped part of his robe away and wrapped it around his face, to stop breathing in smoke. Still the light and the heat from the fire were not going to help him get away.
He started limping away from the clearing. "Must get away! Must get away!" he chanted under his breath. He noticed that the roar of the fire around him was growing and deafening in his ears. He tried running, but his foot would not allow it. Panicking, he kept on. The flames of the fire licked their way up old and dark trees, through the dried moss and jumped from branch to branch. The smoke alone prevented his breathing, but it hid him from prying eyes. He imagined that the fire was alive and was going to swallow him whole. He kept jogging through the burning forest. Over the roar of the fire, he heard a splintering crack as a burning tree fell over across his path, narrowly missing his head. He was rooted to the spot and began to hyperventilate. "MUST GET AWAY! MUST GET AWAY!" were the only thoughts filling his mind. He started up from shock and kept jogging. Sweat drenched his soiled, torn and now burnt robes. He did not even notice as the trees started to thin out around him. He was abruptly stopped by the fact that the ground underneath his feet turned to rock and he was standing on top of a small cliff, beneath which he saw a river winding its course through the forest. He again thought to himself "if only I had a wand". But he had no time to think. He heard shouts behind his back and quickly turned around crouching to the ground.
"Malfoy! Come out and play!" Lestrange's gruff voice announced his presence. If he is here, the other one is not far behind. Draco had to think fast, hiding will not help this time. He looked below him to the river.
"Lestrange! I think I see footprints here leading north!" Dolohov's voice was heard coming closer. There was no more time.
Draco turned around and jumped down, cursing as he landed on his already twisted ankle. He scrambled down the cliff and ran to the river. As soon as he got closer, he understood that he underestimated the depth and the current. But he had to keep going; there was no turning back now. He waded into the water, the shock of the cold water freezing his body in place. "MUST GET AWAY!" He screamed inside his head, as he threw himself into the current. He tried to struggle above the water, but his soaked robes were too heavy and they dragged him down to the dark depths of the river. He fought to stay on top of the water, but he realized that his trashing was useless. At least he was not going to be roasted by the forest inferno, he thought to himself. As his consciousness started to slip into blackness, because of the fatigue, because his clothes were too heavy, because he had no more will left to live, his body crashed into solid rock. He fought to open his heavy eyelids and saw that he was caught on a rock, and that the other shore of the river was not far. "If only I had a wand" the thought again made itself aware in his head. He struggled to find a foothold to climb the rock, slipping and sliding until finally he was able to drag himself to the top. He panted, shivered and collapsed against the cold surface. The blackness behind his eyelids was like a welcome cocoon ready to envelop him if only he was to close his eyes, but he fought it.
He gathered the scraps of his strength and leaped from the rock to the more shallow water. He hit the rocks on the bottom of the river, but he was safe from drowning, since he could stand up on the river floor. He slowly waded out of the river. As soon as he was out of the river, his legs gave way to gravity and he buckled to the ground. The darkness was again upon him, black, empty, merciless, but he shook his head to try to stave off the weariness and started to crawl away from the edge of the river into the forest. He crawled on his hands and knees, because standing upright was not an option. He crawled with desperation to find a safe place, knowing that there was no place safe from Him. He crawled until he reached the dense cover of the foliage. He leaned his tired and battered body against the trunk of the nearest tree and gathered his knees to himself. His wet robes did nothing to warm his body and he started to remove the sagging weight of his clothing. Finally freed from the weight he was able to stand up and limp his way further into the forest. He struggled to keep his eyes open and struggled to take each step, he knew that if he stopped that he would not live to see the next day. His Slytherin survival instincts and his stubbornness were the only things pushing him forward.
He knew that the Malfoy manor was not far away from small Muggle villages and farms, but he could not risk going into a highly populated area, since he would be recognized and killed on sight by the Death Eaters situated in the nearby towns. "If only I had a wand" he thought to himself again, wallowing in his personal misery. After what seemed like an eternity, when he was just about to give up, to lie down and die on the cold, hard soil, his eyes detected a flickering of electric lights coming from a solitary house, close to the edge of the forest. His heart leaped into his throat, and with renewed vigour he hurriedly limped to the house. Only, he could not keep up his effort for long, with every stride, his energy faded, with every step towards his goal, his strength left his limbs. He finally collapsed a few meters away from the doorstep of the house. Finally, he let the exhaustion crash over him, finally he allowed himself to be swallowed up by the complete and utter darkness. As he closed his clear grey eyes, the last thought that flashed through his muddled brain was that he deserved this. After years of prejudice, and hatred that he inflicted on everyone around him, he found a fitting end: being so close to salvation, he was going to die.
What Draco Malfoy did not realize as he lost the last remnants of his consciousness, was that the light coming from the open door was illuminating his body and a man was running towards him from the house.